The Perdue House by Rusafova Markulis Architects was a dream built over the course of a decade. According to the architects the house was designed to be “small, efficient, filled with light and addressing this unique, wooded site in the heart of West Asheville.”

While inside, one feels as if they are hidden away in a tree house better than any childhood dream. From the outside, the rich patina of the cor-ten steel veneer panels blends the structure perfectly into the lush green trees that surround.

YH2 Architects put together this natural material based winter home, called “La Luge”, located on a private plot of land in Quebec, Canada.

Great floor to ceiling windows, built in bunk beds and a suspended orb fireplace make up some of the beautiful interior elements. Utilizing cedar, oak and walnut woods are carried throughout from the exterior facade to the interior areas including the kitchen cabinetry.

Architect E. Fay Jones designed the Thorncrown Chapel near Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The non-denominational chapel is a shining example of organic architecture, a philosophy of architecture which promotes harmony between human habitation and the natural world.

This magnificent wooden structure, which rises 48 feet into the sky, contains 425 windows and over 6,000 square feet of glass. The chapel is available for daily visitation, weddings, and Sunday services.

This house is built in the woods of Karuizawa, located in the Nagano prefecture of Japan, and it was designed by Kotaro Ide of ARTechnic. As a vacation home it was designed to withstand the seasonal hardships. The Shell Residence has a simple aesthetic design which was meant to blend itself well to the traditional Japanese landscape, as it manages to create a balance between the futuristic man-made structure and the environment which surrounds it.

Tucked into the lush forest in the coastal village of Mar Azul, a province of Buenos Aires, Casa Cher is a modern dream home built as a summer residence for a family of four. Designed by Argentinian firm BAK Architects, this small structure is embedded into the varying levels of the forestal land surrounding it.

This home stuns with just two main materials: concrete and glass. A full glazed front and rear allow views and light (which can be limited underneath a forest canopy) to penetrate these minimalist spaces. Variously-sized picture and clerestory windows add a pattern of energy to the front of the home, as does the profile of a concrete entrance stairway. The facade melds into the woods, with both the exterior and interior exuding a rich, autumnal palette.

With two bedrooms, two baths and a shared living room and kitchen, the home effortlessly flows while reaching two distinct floors as a split-level plan. A linear perspective of the forest is attained from the main living area, which features a wood-burning fireplace, as well as sliding glass doors to experience the fresh air. So intriguing is the “suspended” terrace, a wood-planked form with cut-outs for growing trees. A soft blanket of pine needles contributes to the organic beauty of this modern dwelling.

Another interesting feature is the customized concrete. Seen as a dining table, kitchen countertops and sink basin, shelving, even a bed and lounging bench, this primary design element is as unique as it is functional. Warm woods in some of the furnishings, upon a counter and as decorative bowls, play contrast to the raw concrete, gracefully echoing the rugged outdoor landscape.

These animated gif images are created by 21-year-old Boston, MA based illustrator Daniel Barreto. The small dwellings are carved into the nooks and crannies of trees deep in the woods. Their windows glowing with light and flickering in the dark snowy night beg the question “Who lives here? Who are these tiny creatures?”

The video depicts the revolutionary nature of the life cycle of a droplet of water and it’s cyclical journey. The project was a three-fold collaboration between myself, Helen Friel and Jess Deacon. From the original idea, through the creative development and process, our individual skill sets enabled the project to spring to life.

As part of the 2012 Archstoyanie festival in Nikola-Lenivets, Russia, design company Salto created this gargantuan trampoline installation called Fast Track. Measuring nearly 51 meters (170 ft.) the bouncy road is nearly the length of a city block.

“Fast Track is a integral part of park infrastructure, it is a road and an installation at the same time. It challenges the concept of infrastructure that only focuses on technical and functional aspects and tends to be ignorant to its surroundings. “Fast track” is an attempt to create intelligent infrastructure that is emotional and corresponds to the local context. It gives the user a different experience of moving and perceiving the environment”, the designers say.

The concept and excitement of LEED may not mean a whole lot to some, but to the E’terra Samara eco-resort in Ontario, Canada, it is a big deal. So much of a big deal that the resort is going to be installing twelve new rooms on the premise of their Gold LEED standard in the coming months.

Nestled among the treetops at E’terra Samara, Farrow Partnership Architects put together the plans and designs for the one bedroom villas set to overlook the gorgeous Georgian Bay. The exterior is a shapely, futuristic swooping silhouette complete with an answer for all weather conditions and a tree incorporated to the interior of each space. Compost toilets and gray water showers are also on the FFE list of these amazing LEED spaces.

Preservation of existing nature might be something that’s more prevalent in countries outside of the United States, and this Guatemalan home – created by Paz Architectura – is one of the structures that was worked around an existing forrest of the city’s Santa Rosalía area.

While the front portion of the home appears to drop off into the abyss, the rest of it actually shoots down multiple levels into the forest while the tree that is seen at the top of the house moves through each floor of the interior. The views from the inside are likely even more stunning than Casa Corallo’s natural exterior – with tree lined views from every floor to ceiling window in each room.